Around the Bar
The Milton Handler LectureOn February 23rd, Professor Herbert Hovenkamp of the University of Iowa College of Law gave the 2012 Milton Handler Lecture on the topic of “Innovation and Antitrust.”

Member Benefit
Open Enrollment for City Bar-Sponsored Health PlansOpen Enrollment is underway between now and April 1st for the City Bar’s sponsored medical program for Sole Proprietors and Small Groups.

With all the changes occurring among medical insurers, members have important decisions to make about the type of plan that best meets their needs and how much to pay for it. The City Bar provides a wide range of health plan options for its members through United Healthcare’s Oxford Products. Marsh serves as the sponsored broker/administrator for this program.

And, if you practice as a sole proprietor, we have good news for you. We now have three new plan options available to sole proprietors that can save qualifying members significantly on their premiums.

Join a Committee
Want to Serve on a Committee? Now is the Time to ApplyIf you’re interested in serving on a City Bar committee, now is the time to apply, as committee members are generally appointed in the spring to begin serving a three-year term in September. If you haven’t thought about committee work, you should; committees are how the City Bar’s work gets done, and joining one can give you great experience while opening up a number of career doors, including some you might not anticipate. A list of the City Bar committees along with a brief description of their activities, where available, and an application form, can be found here.

Recent Committee ActivityWorship Services in School Buildings
The Committees on Civil Rights and Education and the Law issued a report expressing opposition to A.8800-A/S.6087-A, which is designed to prevent New York City and other school districts from barring worship services in schools during non-school hours. The report notes the Bill is in response to the Bronx Household of Faith decision recently issued by the Second Circuit. The report argues that the Bill is overbroad, represents unsound public policy, and may violate the Establishment Clause, and should not be enacted. The Bill would strip school districts of the ability to take necessary steps to avoid conveying a “message of endorsement” of religion, and would inappropriately limit school districts’ control of their buildings even beyond the religious worship issue.

Guide to the New York City Family CourtThe Committee on Family Court and Family Law updated and reissued the Guide to the New York City Family Court, which was originally compiled in 1997 and updated in 2006. The Family Court can be a confusing place for people unfamiliar with the court process and the legal issues their problems present. The information contained in the Guide is meant to help people understand how the court works and some of the legal terms and issues that relate to family law cases.

City Bar in the News New York Law Journal, February 24, 2012
In an article for the New York Law Journal headlined “Lawyers’ Titles and Law Firm Names in the Hi-Tech Era,” Devika Kewalramani wrote, “Blogs, like websites, are subject to RPC 7.1, which prohibits false, deceptive or misleading attorney advertisements…A New York City Bar opinion addressed a similar issue where two attorneys who shared office space wanted to use letterhead referring to their individual practices as ‘The Law Offices at X Square.’ The opinion concluded that the name was a prohibited trade name under the ethics rules. It rejected the lawyers’ proposals to include their individual names below the letterhead and to include language to clarify they were not affiliated by noting, ‘[t]hese approaches do not eliminate the problems with lack of clarity and capacity to mislead associated with use of a trade name.’”